2014 NBA Draft Live Blog

Hurray!  Live Blog!  This draft could get absolutely crazy, or at least I hope so.  Seems like most drafts that are supposed to be nuts end up being snoozers, but there's so much potential for the crazy here I can't believe nothing interesting will happen.

As with just about anything, you can bet on a ton of draft related stuff.  Because you can bet on it, I did.  Here's what I have tonight:

Joel Embiid draft position over 5 (small)
Tyler Ennis draft position over 18.5 (small)
Marcus Smart draft position over 5.5 (normal bet)
Shabazz Napier draft position under 25.5 (normal)
Total seniors taken in first round over 2.5 (extra super big bet)

I also have a combination of bets where I win a normal amount if Parker goes first but don't lose anything if Wiggins go first.  It's from a combination of an early bet at great odds that suddenly looked like a bad bet but an opportunity to hedge out of a lot of it presented itself.  It's complicated and you're definitely not smart enough to understand.

Anyway, hopefully something happens with Love tonight or soon at least.  I think if they can get Golden State to include Harrison Barnes that's a pretty good trade.  Remember Barnes averaged 16 points and 6 rebounds per game in 12 postseason games in 2012-2013.  Then the Warriors traded for Andre Iguodala and his development was completely blocked.  If you can get Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and David Lee you're acquiring three starters, two of whom could have significant upside and at a minimum you're getting a second tier star in Thompson, a solid starter in Lee, and at least a rotation guy in Barnes (though I think he'll be better than this).  I dunno, I take it for sure, especially if you can shed either Kevin Martin or Chase Budinger's contract while you're at it.

Anyway, on to the draft.

-  We got a new cat today.  Murray.  3 years old and Orange and super mellow.  Daughter (age 6) cried tears of joy when we brought him home.  Took him less than three hours to get stuck in the crawl space in the basement and, despite being I assured that I would have to do zero work if we got a cat, guess who got to spend 40 minutes getting him out and then figuring out how to block it off so he couldn't get out.  Yep.

-  Does anyone ever pick in this draft?

-  Cavs go with Andrew Wiggins.  Kind of a mild surprise since Cleveland is Cleveland and I could see them doing something insane like picking Dante Exum.

-  How fast does Milwaukee get this pick in?  It should take about 4 seconds.  Like you.

-  Indeed it's Jabari.  What are the odds going to be on him winning ROY?  He's got to be an overwhelming favorite as the most NBA ready talent and going somewhere he'll immediately become the #1 option.  He will be the top option there, right?  I'll admit, I have trouble coming up with Bucks.  I think they have Larry Sanders and maybe Brandon Jennings.   Or is he on the Pistons now?  Wow.  This is embarrassing.  Jon Leuer maybe?  Probably some foreign guys.  So yeah, ROY.  For a lot of monies.

-  Third pick here for Philly is the most interesting one.  Go with Embiid and take that risk or take a safer player (or somewhere in between like Exum)?  I'd go with Embiid as the Sixers since they aren't going to be anywhere near contending for at least another couple years, why not swing for the fences?

-  Boom.  It is Embiid.  No doubt about, most talented guy in the draft.  A seven footer with the athleticism of a swingman who keeps developing more offensive abilities, including a mid-range jumper mid-season.  Unreal.  IF he stays healthy, and yes that's clearly become a monster IF, he's going to be a monster.

-  Magic go with Aaron Gordon at #4.  Gross, and what horrid night for Orlando.  First they trade Aaron Afflalo for some crappy guard with a frenchy name and almost the last pick of the draft, now they take a guy with absolutely no real basketball skills when there were two much better forwards (Vonleh and Randle) available. Gross.

-  Utah travels back in time to when high school kids were drafted in the lottery despite having no real game tape against proper competition and takes Dante Exum.  Look, maybe he'll work out - KG, Kobe, and Lebron certainly did, but thanks to Jon Bender, Kwame Brown, and Kovortney Barber I wouldn't touch him with so many semi-proven good players still on the board.  And this means the Lakers will get either Vonleh or Randle.  Stupid Lakers.

-  Exum's accent makes him sound like a dandy.

-  Celtics go with Marcus Smart, and this has to mean they're trading Rondo, right?  They're practically the same player with the ball, in that their strength is their strength when it comes to getting to the rim to either score, get fouled, or dish.  Both are good rebounders for guards, both are excellent defenders, and neither can shoot outside.  I had heard earlier that Rondo might be on the move to Sacramento for #8, and now that sounds more likely to me than it did earlier today.

-  Vonleh or Randle is one hell of a tough decision.  It's like choosing between Knob Creek and Woodford Reserve.  I LOVE YOU BOTH.

-  I think how they can't stop talking about how Smart is so competitive.  Sure, but he's kind of an asshole too and he still can't shoot.

-  Randle is the choice.  `If Sacramento goes Vonleh and that trade with the Celtics is real a Smart/Vonleh draft is a great one for Boston.  Oh, and the cat's in the ceiling somehow.  Time to visit my good friend liquor.

-  Whoa, Nik Stauskas.  Wasn't expecting this.  Would Boston want to reload with Smart/Stauskas?  Would the Kings really want Stauskas when they took Ben McLemore last year?  Well nothing really fun has happened yet, but there are enough questions about this first round that there's got to be some wheels turning.

- Hornets, who have been basically been linked to Doug McDermott by everyone, do the smart thing with Vonleh having slipped and take him.  He's going to be a star.

-  Interviewer guy to Vonleh, "How important was Tom Crean in your development."  Give Vonleh and incredible amount of credit for not just plain bursting out laughing.

-  Philly goes Elfrid Payton at #10, which is a horrible pick and also doesn't make a whole lot of sense because he's a point guard and the Sixers have rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams and neither one of them can shoot.  Both are good defenders, but neither has a whole lot of strength and they could both just get brutalized by stronger 2s.  I feel like this is another trade waiting to be announced.  And never, ever trust a player who shoots up draft boards late for no real reason.  It never works.  Probably.

-  Here comes Denver, a pick that has been rumored to be heading to the Wolves along with Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried for Kevin Love and if that happened I would kill myself.

-  Nugs take McDermott.  Now I'll double kill myself if that trade happens.  1 senior off the board.  I need three to go.  That's seriously a really big bet.

-  There you go, McDermott traded to Chicago for #16 and #19.  Let the trade waters flow.

-  The Magic take Dario Saric from Croatia to go with trading Afflalo for nothing and Aaron Gordon.  Oof.  This is like watching Dawger at a fantasy football draft.

-  I suppose that means the Wolves are up.  I have very little interest in anyone here.  Gary Harris is probably the most ready.  Adreian Payne is interesting.  Zach LaVine is Bilas's best available and even though I think he has bust written all over him I suppose at this point he also has the most upside of anyone available.  I dunno.  I am strangely ambivalent, but that's probably because I know the Love trade is coming up at some point and that's way more interesting.

-  Zach LaVine it is.  Any time you can get a point guard who was a backup at UCLA and averaged more rebounds than assists you have to do it.

-  Sixers and Magic trade Saric for Payton.  One time I gave this bum a bag of trash and he gave me back his bag of trash.

-  Suns go with T.J. Warren.  This either going to be an absolute steal or a huge bust.  Warren is a monster scorer, but he doesn't really look the part.  He has a goofy looking jumper and he scores a ton of his points on weird shots that go in because he can just do it no matter how off balance or out of rhythm.  He should actually do quite well in Phoenix.

-  Atlanta takes Adreian Payne (senior #2), which means we get to hear that whole story about him and that little girl again.  Yes, it's a great story, but does it make me a bad person if I'm bored hearing about it?  Actually I don't care.

-  The Magic should have their two picks, Aaron Gordon and Elfried Payton play horse.  Could last until infinity.

-  Denver takes some foreigner from Bosnia whose name I don't feel like typing, Celtics go with James Young (who I like a lot, mostly because he's a lefty, he got a lot better last season when he decided to be more than a jump shooter), and the Suns take Tyler Ennis to go with T.J. Warren.  Tyler Ennis goes #18.  I had the over 18.5.  Dammit.

-  Vance Worley with 7 innings of 1 run ball tonight, running his ERA to 1.74 in 3 starts with the Pirates.  It's like the Twins coaches somehow actually wreck players.  I know I've joked about it before, but I think maybe it's time to stop joking about it.  They're doing something very wrong over there.

-  I'm strangely super bored by this draft.  Nuggets take Gary Harris, which means Denver has acquired both Aaron Afflalo and Gary Harris, which is redundant.

-  Raptors select some buy from Brazil who nobody has ever heard of.  I'm bailing on this draft as soon as Napier goes.

- Jesus Christ with this cat stuff.  Now my son, who is kind of scared of everything, is freaking out if the cat goes in his room while he's trying to fall asleep.  But he also cries if we shut his door because he likes to sleep with it open.  Remember back when I started this blog and I was basically just a drunk stupid kid?  Growing up and having to take care of things like kids sucks sometimes.  I'm out boys.  Pray for Shabazz Napier.